Oh Brother
by pure-thornless-rose
Summary: A young girl has been looking for her only sibling for several years. It's a good thing she stumbles into a someone who can help her.
1. Default Chapter

pure-thornless-rose: Hey there everyone! This is my first IY fic and I've been writting this for a while. Umm... I know I still have to work on my other fic, but this one was sitting around in my computer. So I decided to post it up! Enjoy!

I do not own Inuyasha, his story, his friends, and anything else related to him... I only own my original characters and my story... not much else.

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Oh Brother  
Chapter 1: Just Two More Days to Go  
By pure-thornless-rose 

The sun was only beginning to rise. A young girl of 14 was sitting under a tree, watching the day begin. Her black hair was tied up in a bun and she let her bangs hang free. She was wearing a pink and dark blue kimono with a purple sash wrapped around her waist. She watched the horizon, her dark blue eyes gazing. A little green, parrot-like bird was also perched on her shoulder.

"Midori?" the girl asked.  
"What is it, Aeri?" The bird spoke up, rather clearly a well.  
"Tell me... Do you think we'll ever find him soon?"  
"Find **who** soon?"  
"Midori!" she whined. "You know who I'm talking about!"  
"I don't know, Aeri... Maybe..."  
"Well do you think we should go and look for him again?" she asked, and then she looked to the bird. "We've stayed in this village for about four years already."  
"Well you're still training to be a priestess... I don't know how Lady Sakita will react to that."  
"You're right..." Then she began to look at her right hand. "I hope his void hasn't taken him yet... Mine is still small and I have it sealed with these beads..."  
"He gave those to you didn't he?"  
"Yeah... before he left... erm, got separated from me. But that was ages ago. He said that I might need this some day. He was right... and I thank him for that. He was the best big brother ever." Then she let out a big sigh and returned her gaze to the horizon.  
"Well he wasn't that nice to me..."  
"Why? What did he do?" She sounded surprised and looked back to the little green bird again.  
"I should have told you this a long time ago. But when you two were little kids... he tried to place me in a cage for a week. Thank goodness I was able to escape from that horrid thing... I hate cages."  
"He tried sticking you in a cage? No way... I remember clearly telling him to never put you in a cage. I like it when you're not in that thing and flying freely." Then she paused for a second. "But I was four and he was eight so he probably ignored me."

Then a woman in her mid-twenties appeared and began walking towards her. She was fairly attractive and she had brown eyes and long black hair.

"Good morning Lady Sakita."Aeri stood up and bowed to the woman when she reached her.  
"Good morning Aeri. What are you doing here?"  
"Well, I woke up early. So I did my morning chores and I ended up finishing early too."  
"Ah... very good, Aeri. Now, I'm about to leave to go visit a friend of mine, a priestess, Lady Kaede. She's from another village and I want you to come with me so you can meet her."  
"Yes, Lady Sakita. I'll come with you. How far is it anyway?"  
"It's about three days away... I already put together the things we'll need. So we should leave now."  
"Yes, Lady Sakita. But may I get my things first?"  
"Yes, go ahead. Meet me here okay?"  
"Yes, Lady Sakita." Then she bowed and hurried to get her things.

When she returned, they left and set out for their destination through the forest.

---Several Hours Later---

It's the middle of the day and the sun is high. The priestess and her young apprentice had been walking for several hours... of course, it says it right up there. Anyway, they decided to stop and eat. Aeri then let Midori fly around for a while. The two sat themselves aside from the dirt road under a tree.

"Lady Sakita, why are we going to go see Lady Kaede?" Aeri asked.  
"Well... aside from the fact that I haven't seen her for a long time... She and I have some business to attend to together. I also wanted you to meet her for priestess training benefits."  
"Oh... that. Yes, I see. Oh, here comes Midori." Then the little green bird glides in and lands on Aeri's outstretched arm, on the arm guard Aeri had on. "Well you came back early, Midori."  
"Yes, I did. There wasn't much to look for... or at, just the dirt and trees. Oh and I saw someone coming up the road. A hanyou."  
"Anyone else?"  
"No... It was just the hanyou. I began to hover around him but he started yelling at me, telling me to buzz off." She was flapping her wings while continuing to perch on Aeri's arm.  
"He sounds like a jerk." Lady Sakita said calmly.  
"You have that right... Anyway, he was headed the same way we were... he must have been behind us by about mile or two."  
"Oh?" Then Aeri stood up. "I've never met a hanyou before... I wonder if there's a chance that he knows by brother... I have this really weird feeling that he does..."  
"There is a chance that he does." Lady Sakita said as she pulled out some food from her bag. "I'm also sure that there's a chance that we can get him to sit and talk to us."  
"Good idea, Lady Sakita." Aeri then looked towards the way they came from. "He must have been traveling all day. He must be hungry by now... if he didn't eat anything yet."

---To Inuyasha---

"Humph... Stupid bird... what was the matter with that thing?" Obviously, Inuyasha was put into a bad mood because of Midori. "I've been walking and walking for almost two days now! I'm hungry and I still haven't found any one of my friends! How did Naraku manage to get us separated anyway? Humph..." Yep, you heard him. Naraku somehow managed to get them all separated from one another. But he had a couple people do it for him... or course.

---Meanwhile with Kagome and Shippo---

"I wonder how everyone else is doing?" Kagome wondered out loud to Shippo.  
"Who knows? I bet they're all fine though..."  
"Really? Do you think?"  
"Yeah... But I think we're the only ones who found each other, aside from Sango and Kirara, they're always together no matter what. Before I lost sight of everyone else in that smoke cloud, I saw that Inuyasha and Miroku were the farthest from the group **and** each other, so I'm guessing they're on their own."  
"Good point... I hope we're **all** together again real soon."

The two have been wandering in the forest together since they were separated from their group. Lost, tired, and hungry... like everyone else. Oh and just to let you know, Shippo is right about what he said. He and Kagome were the only ones who found each other, Sango and Kirara have been together since everyone was separated, Miroku's on his own, and Inuyasha was on his own.

---Back to Inuyasha---

"I'm lost, tired AND hungry... But I'm just going to have to keep going. Hopefully I'll run into one of my friends... I haven't picked up any one of their scents yet." Shortly, he began picking up a familiar scent, the little green bird's scent. "That stupid bird... I can smell him again. Huh? What's that up the road...?"

---Back with Aeri, Midori, and Lady Sakita---

"Hey is that him down the road now?" Aeri stood in the middle of the dirt road and shielded her eyes from the sun to see. Midori then flew to Aeri's shoulder.  
"Uh... it should be. Maybe I should fly down to him..." Then she took off.

---Inuyasha's view---

"Grr... it's that dumb green ball of feathers again... what does he want with me?"  
"Hey I heard that! Oh, and just to let ya know... I'm a SHE!"  
"WHAT?! Since when can you speak?"  
"Since ever..." She began hovering around Inuyasha.  
"Hey... I can smell somethin' else on you..."  
"Must be my friend's scent."  
"She's human ain't she...?"  
"Come on, I'll take ya to her..."  
"And why should I trust you?"  
"You're hungry aren't you?" Then she flew back to Aeri with Inuyasha running beside her after short hesitation.

---To Aeri and Lady Sakita---

"Here comes Midori." Then she began waving to her feathered friend. "Midori! Over here!"  
"I'm comin' Aeri! Don't worry I see you!" Then she glided towards Aeri and perched on her outstretched arm.  
"I wasn't worrying... Oh... Hi. I'm Aeri." She greeted with a smile. "What's your name?"  
Inuyasha began to grumble. "... ... ... Inuyasha ..."  
"Well... Inuyasha, my friend Midori here told me you were coming up the road." She said as she stroked Midori's head.  
"So...?"  
"Well... Lady Sakita and I had just started eating... and... well you look like you've been traveling all day... aren't you hungry? You can join us if you want."  
"Me? Uh... Nah... I'm not hungry." Thinks _'How do I know if I can trust **these** two? They would have probably just ignored me in the first place--unless they had a good reason to stop and share some of their food with me... or maybe their up to no good... nah, that woman over there's dressed in priestess clothing... or is she just someone in disguise...? Giving out food...?'_

Suddenly his stomach began to gurgle at the thought of _food_... **loudly**. Aeri began to giggle.

"You sure about that? I don't think you're letting your stomach have a say in your decision..." Then she walked back to Lady Sakita and took a tied up handkerchief with something in it. She handed it to Inuyasha. "Here, you can have this... open it up and eat whatever's inside."

She walked back to where she was sitting and sat down and ate whatever she had. Inuyasha just looked at the tied up handkerchief in his hand and walked closer to the two.

"So... why are you offering me some of your food? I'm a total stranger and I don't know you myself."  
"I don't know." Aeri replied innocently. "It just seems like a nice thing to do... like a random act of kindness... why did **you** decide on trusting my bird and coming here...?"  
"That's what I'm having trouble on... trusting you..."

Then he began staring at the bundle on his hands again.  
  
"Why won't you sit down?" Lady Sakita suddenly spoke up. Inuyasha had a confused look to his face, but he sat down anyway and opened up the handkerchief and began eating whatever was inside.

"Inuyasha," Aeri spoke up to get his attention. He looked up. "How come you were traveling all by yourself?"  
"Um, actually, I was traveling with my friends. But we got separated and I've been looking for them for about two days already..."  
"What are your friends' names?"  
"Kagome, Sango and her pet Kirara, Miroku, and Shippo..."  
"**Miroku?** D' you mean, Miroku with a wind tunnel in his right hand, Miroku? You know him?" Aeri's eyes lit up with hope.  
"Uh... yeah. Why? Do you know him too?"  
"Know him? I'm his younger sister!"  
"What?! He has a younger sister?! He never told me about him having a little sister!"  
"You probably never asked him..."  
"Oh... Hmmm... ...Well, where are you two headed?"  
"We are going to see a friend of mine, Lady Kaede." Lady Sakita answered.  
"Old Kaede? You know that old hag?"  
"Wow, this seems like too much of a coincidence..." Aeri laughed.  
"I'd like to see Kaede myself... so... Can I come along with you?" he asked.  
"Sure, you can come with us," Lady Sakita nodded and smiled.

Then Inuyasha frowned and his eye's narrowed on the two humans before him.

"You know... I find it awful strange that you welcomed me, a half demon, to eat with you before even knowing who I was."  
"Why? What about you being a half demon...?" Aeri asked innocently.  
"Because, Aeri," Lady Sakita turned to her, "Not very many people trust half demons."  
"Ah, okay. But you shouldn't find it strange that we invited you. No body ever told me about distrusting hanyou just because they're there."

She turned back to Inuyasha and noticed the little, white ears. Subconsciously, she began staring.

"Y-you have dog ears..."  
"So? You have a problem with that?"  
"No... it's just that," she suddenly began to smile, "they're cute."

Inuyasha began to grumble at this. The human girl who claimed to be Miroku's sister, who is also human, never seemed phased by him being a half demon and continued on happily; even thinking that his ears were 'cute'.

"Well don't you dare come here and tug on 'em alright?"  
"Alright..." she answered. Then she turned to Midori, "Midori, if you wish, you may go fly around and look for something to eat. I have no grain for you today."  
"Okay. See you later."

Then she took off and flew into the trees. Inuyasha took note of the bird's speaking but didn't say anything. Even though he found it odd for a small bird to be able to speak rather clearly like she did.

"Girl, tell me. Are you really Miroku's younger sister?"  
"Yeah, why? You don't believe me?"  
"It's hard to."  
"Here, let me give you some proof... Now, being a friend of my brother, I assumed he told you of the man responsible for his wind tunnel." She looked at him seriously.  
"Naraku." Inuyasha growled.  
"Yes. Now I also assume that he told you it's a generational curse. Am I right?" she continued.  
"Yeah, it all began from his grandfather... blah, blah, blah... I know the story..." Inuyasha caught on to where she was going with this. "Oh, so you have the damned wind tunnel too don't ya?"  
"Yep..."

Then she held out her right hand. It was covered and beads were wrapped around it. Inuyasha observed it and nodded.

"And plus... see the resemblance?"  
".........A little..."

Inuyasha looked at her carefully and saw the bark blue eyes that were just like her brother's.

"So... YOU tell ME something. How was my brother doing before you and your friends were separated? Was he okay?"  
"Yeah. He was still alive and breathing before Naraku caused some weird explosion to separate us. I have a feeling he's planning to get to all of us one by one..." He began grumbling again.  
"Naraku was the one who separated you all?"  
"You ask a lot of questions... you know that?" He was getting irritated.

She pouted.

"Well it's not my fault I haven't seen my brother in about ten years and I want to know if he's still alive or not. Do you know what it's like to not know how your older sibling is doing?"  
"Don't get started on older siblings with me. I don't ever want to know how my older brother is doing. Hmph, I wish he was dead!" he declared.

This surprised Aeri a bit and Lady Sakita kept quiet.

"Dead? Is this a sibling rivalry thing?"  
"Questions..."  
"Sorry... But I take the sibling thing as a yes."

She quietly started on her meal again while Inuyasha began grumbling, again.

When they finished, they set off again for Lady Kaede's village. They were moving along cheerfully—well only Aeri and Midori were the cheerful ones. Inuyasha seemed annoyed from their upbeat positions and continued on irascibly, while Lady Sakita just enjoyed the day away silently. It was already past mid-day and it just seemed to get better along the way.

Soon, the sun was ready to set. Nothing out of the ordinary happened and somehow, Aeri and Midori were still shinning with happiness. The reason for why they were so cheerful, even I don't know, maybe because Aeri was only 14 and young and Midori was a parrot-like bird—they're so lively! But Inuyasha was somehow able to tolerate it throughout the whole day. He was following from behind, keeping a lookout for anything unusual since it did give him something to do. He had also been thinking about the rest of his friends, especially Kagome. She was practically defenseless on her own—but she did have a bow and a number of arrows, she just needed a bit more practice.

Anyhow, the trio and the bird had settled down for the night. When the next day came along, they were off again. Traveling still on the dirt road... under the rising sun.

"So how long 'til we get there?" Inuyasha asked.

"Just two more days to go..." Aeri said plainly and smirking happily.

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pure-thornless-rose: Well... there ya go! Did you enjoy it? or was it a little long...? Anyhow, chapter two will come along soon. But don't hope it'll be here quickly... i have school to go through...(-.-;) Sorry, it's the same case with my other story anyway. 

REVIEW... PLEASE REVIEW

PostScript(yes, that's what PS stands for... i think): The name Midori means something, I know--but do you? Also if there's something I missed or went wrong in typing this up, or you're just confused and want to know something... feel free to email me or ask me in a review. My mail box has been empty lately. Oh... and email me only for the purpose of my stories... My email can be found in my bio by-the-way.

BYE


	2. That Stupid Barrier

pure-thornless-rose: Hey there reader(s)! Heheh... Here's the 2nd chapter to Oh Brother. There's A LOT of dialogue spoken here and I didn't even bother to put it in script form... Sorry. Anyhow... Enjoy!

I DO NOT OWN THE SHOW INUYASHA OR ITS CHARACTERS. Just my original characters and my story; and whatever I have in my home...

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Oh Brother   
Chapter two: That Stupid Barrier   
By pure-thornless-rose 

"Great..." Inuyasha said sarcastically after Aeri told him of the two days it would take, "Just **great**..."   
"I know, isn't it?" Aeri smiled.   
"You're too cheerful for your own good, y' know that?"   
"I'm just happy 'cause I know I can find my big brother now—that he's still alive y' know?"   
"Yeah, whatever..."   
"... Um...so about your brother..."   
"What about him?"   
"Who is he?"   
"You wanna know?" She nodded. "You REALLY wanna know...?"   
"Yeah."   
"Then I'm not telling you."   
"Ugh... Well you've been grouchy..."   
"WELL THAT'S **MY** PROBLEM..."

"Cranky head..." it was Midori this time.   
"Shut up, you dumb green ball of feathers..." Then he began to grumble and sulk, slowing down his pace so that he was behind all of them. Midori faced Inuyasha from Aeri's shoulder.

"I'd stop calling me that if I were you." She scowled a bird scowl.   
"What're **you** gonna do about it? Huh? Ya stupid green ball of feathers!"   
"You'll find out in the near future, Inuyasha. You'll find out." She glared at him and turned back around.

"Stupid bird..." Inuyasha murmured to himself. Luckily no one heard. Then Aeri turned to Midori.

"I think we should leave him alone for a while, Midori," she whispered. Midori nodded. Suddenly she started flapping her wings and took off, hovering around Aeri.

"Have it your way..." she said, "I'm gonna go scan the area for anything."   
"Okay." Aeri nodded. "Just come back when you see something interesting or something of that matter."

Then Midori nodded and took off, flying high and ahead of them. She searched around, seeing nothing but the trees and the road. She flew around in circles and gazed into the scenery, alert for anything interesting.

Meanwhile, with Aeri, Inuyasha and Lady Sakita, Inuyasha was still sulking in the backround. Lady Sakita was continuing on quietly as usual and Aeri was soaking up the day as she walked on. She was still in her bubbly mood (even after Inuyasha's tiny fit).

"At least she's useful for SOMETHING."   
"Inuyasha..." Aeri shook her head. "I should tell you that she has more uses than just scanning the area around us."   
"Like I would care what else she's able to do."   
"Fine... whatever." Aeri shook her head again.

Then Midori came soaring back, looking a little ruffled. Suddenly she swooped in and landed on Aeri's arm.

"I spotted something in the distance. It's a swarm of poison insects, coming this way—and fast!"   
"Well that goes MY day..." Inuyasha growled.   
"Poison insects...?" Lady Sakita stopped, along with the others, with the sound off this message.

Shortly they could hear the swarm closing in.

"Yeah... something I just love to see come by... It's definitely Naraku's doing..."   
"Man...! The first dangerous thing that comes my way, I can't suck it up with my wind tunnel...!"   
"Hm... I have my own way of getting around these pests!" He reached for his Tetsusaiga.   
"Here they come!" Midori said.

Suddenly, the swarm was surrounding them from above. Inuyasha then pulled out the Tetsusaiga and it grew large, as it should. Aeri and Lady Sakita seemed a little surprised. Midori, however, took off from Aeri's shoulder and flew straight into the swarm. But transforming on her way. She grew large, very large, kind of like what Kirara does.

"That's a huge sword, Inuyasha...!" Aeri said.   
"Yeah, well... The green fluff's huge too!"   
"My name's MIDORI! Get it right and use it when referring to me, okay?!" Midori screeched back as she cut through the swarm; her wings were blades on the insects, slicing them with her high speed.

Inuyasha used the Wind Scar and eliminated half of the swarm. Aeri and Lady Sakita were both amazed by the sword, but they had to keep their focus on the swarm, they were surrounding them as more seemed to appear out of nowhere. Lady Sakita had nothing to fight with and so did Aeri, even though she had her wind tunnel. But their defenselessness was proved wrong when Lady Sakita used her miko powers on the attacking wasps and Aeri fought her way through with the use of her own hands. Yeah, she knew how to fight, quite unusual for a fourteen-year-old girl in Feudal Japan. Inuyasha took notice of this but he continued on destroying the wasps. Soon, their numbers trickled down to only a few, some were leaving and the rest were destroyed.

"I think it'll be a good idea to follow the rest of those insects!" Inuyasha suggested.   
The two nodded and Aeri whistled. Midori flew down and Aeri and Lady Sakita jumped on. "You wanna ride?" Aeri asked.   
"Nah... I can run. Let's go!"

They nodded again and Midori took off and flew in the direction of the swarm. Inuyasha started for the swarm as well, running through the fields and past the trees.

--Minutes earlier--

"Hey... I see something all the way back there!" Shippo pointed towards the sky.   
"Where?" Kagome looked and squinted her eyes but the object of Shippo's interest was too far off to see.   
"All the way over there in the sky. It's not coming this way though..."   
"Why... that looks like a huge swarm... of... of... of Naraku's poison insects...!" She was now able to determine the gargantuan, rippling blur in the sky.

"Do you think we should follow them? They always seem to lead us to somewhere important when we do—not that **I'd** want to... But, y' know... eep..."   
"Oh-hoh, Shippo. You don't need to worry." She laughed. "But maybe we should follow them. They might lead us to everyone else. And plus... I have plenty of arrows."   
"Oh-okay..."

"Thing is... their so far away. I don't even have my bicycle with me either..." But regardless of those words, she began running towards the same direction as the poison insects. As fast as she can, she ran and ran, with Shippo on her shoulder.

"Hey...!" Shippo seemed to notice something about the swarm. "How come there's only a few left now? There was a huge swarm a minute ago..."   
"You're right, Shippo! Something must've destroyed a lot of them...!" Suddenly, she thought about her other friends. "Hey Shippo, do you think they're all there, killing the insects?"   
"I hope so!"   
"Then let's keep going!"   
"Yay! We're going to see them soon!"

So they continued running through the forest.

--After all that running and flying--

The remaining wasps of the swarm soon came to a large castle. But there was a barrier that only the poison insects were able to penetrate, while everything else was rejected. Inuyasha and company soon arrived at the barrier and stopped right before it.

"Rrrgh... he put a barrier around the place..." Inuyasha growled.   
"So this is where Naraku lives?" Aeri asked as she jumped off Midori's back.   
"Possibly... or it could be another phantom castle... either way... HE could be in there right now..." Inuyasha said as he examined the barrier.

It was a glowing, blue, force field type of...uh... thing. Also, touching it only burned the offending object. Aeri learned that when she threw a stick at it and the stick burst into flames and dropped onto the ground in the form of ashes.

"Whoa..." she sweat-dropped. "Yeeww..." Then she poked the ashes and threw another stick and watched the whole process repeat itself.   
"Will you stop foolin' around? We gotta go find a way to get in!"   
"Okay... okay..." The she was hit with a small idea. "Hey Midori, Lady Sakita? Inuyasha...?" She said to catch their attention. "How about you two fly around and I'll stay with Inuyasha and look around down here."   
"Good thinking." Lady Sakita nodded.   
"Yeah... okay." Then they took off and left.   
"Wow...! You became useful..." Inuyasha murmured. Aeri pouted and stuck her tongue out at him in return.

"You know... what, Inuyasha—?"A different voice came in, panting in between. "You should be more kind to others."   
"What the..." Inuyasha turned around and saw two familiar faces.   
"Yeah... she's right y' know?" Then a little voice popped up.

"Kagome? Shippo?" Then he smiled.

"Thaaaaat's us, alright!" Shippo smiled back up at him. Aeri poked out from behind Inuyasha and stared at the little fox demon, then to Kagome. The two took notice of her immediately.

"Hi there." Kagome smiled at her. "What's your name?"   
"Hi, I'm Aeri."   
"Hi Aeri!" Shippo greeted her and jumped onto her shoulder. Then he noticed something about her. "Hm? Hey... You look... familiar...?"   
"Shippo's right, Inuyasha. Do we know her?"   
"Ehh... that's probably 'cause she's Miroku's brat sister."   
"WHAT?!?" They yelled simultaneously. Shippo fell off of Aeri's shoulder.   
"Yeah!—hey! I'm not a brat!"   
"Are to..."   
"Are not!"   
Are to...!"   
"Are—never mind...! Hmph! Anywho... you two must be Inuyasha's friends." She smiled again and they smiled back. 

"So you heard about us...?"   
"Only when I asked who his friends were—we just met yesterday."   
"Wait..." Shippo jumped back up on Aeri's shoulder. "You're Miroku's little sister?"   
"Yes I am. Have you heard from him lately?"   
"Sorry... Shippo and I were the only ones who found each other right after Naraku caused that BIG explosion. We were all separated because of that. Which reminds me... did you ever find the others, Inuyasha?"   
"No... so far... I've run into you two, her and her stupid bird, and another priestess."   
"Her bird? A priestess?" Shippo asked.   
"Yeah," Aeri nodded, "Here they come too. "Then she looked towards the sky.   
"Aeri, Inuyasha!" Lady Sakita yelled down to them. Then they landed.   
"Ahh!! She's HUGE!!!"   
"Don't worry, uh... Shippo, Midori only bites the bad guys."   
"Not true! I don't bite at anyone all... Not even the bad guys. I don't like the taste of junk food..."   
"She can speak?" Kagome asked at the sound of Midori's voice.   
"Yup!" Aeri nodded.

Then they all introduced themselves to each other.

"Oh! I nearly forgot!" Aeri exclaimed, "Did you find any way in?"   
"No... I flew around a couple times but all it was, was a huge glowing barrier."   
"I didn't see anything either." Lady Sakita chimed in. "How about you two?"   
"Actually..." Aeri sweat dropped, "Inuyasha and I never really got started."   
"Yeah... Kagome and Shippo came in after you two left..."   
"Well in that case..." Lady Sakita began to suggest, "Maybe we should begin now."   
"Yes!" Aeri said rather happily. "So let us all go now!"   
"Oh boy... she's happy again..." Inuyasha stepped away from her. Everyone else just smiled... or smiled nervously.   
"Oh... and for the sake of your well-being... don't touch the barrier, okay?" Aeri cautioned them. "This is why..."

Then she threw another stick at the barrier and everyone watched it burst into flames and drop to the ground as a pile of ashes. Kagome and Shippo took heed and everyone trekked around the castle. But no one found anyway past the barrier once they circled the whole thing. Inuyasha seemed fed up with it and everyone else was disappointed.

"There's no way around or past this barrier..." Lady Sakita finally admitted for everyone.

They nodded in agreement.

"So what do you suppose we do now?" Aeri asked.   
"Well... before we were side-tracked, we were headed for my dear friend Lady Kaede's village."   
"Then we're off for the old hag's village..."   
"Lady Kaede's village?" Kagome asked.   
"Yes... that's where Aeri and I were headed for in the beginning."   
"Then we met Inuyasha."   
"C'mon, let's go... Getting into THAT place ain't helpin' any one of us right now... thanks to that stupid barrier..."

Inuyasha was already heading back to the dirt road. Everyone just followed.

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p-t-rose: Well there ya go! Um... thanks and come back for the next chapter! I hope you all liked it too! 

PLEASE REVIEW

I like to hear from my reader(s)-heheh...

BYE BYE! Come back okay?


	3. Beary Dead

Hear's another chapter for Oh Brother! Lame title no? It was all I could think of at the moment... DISCLAIMER: I don't and cant own Inuyasha, nor it's characters... Enjoy!

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Oh Brother: Chapter 3: Beary Dead  
By pure-thornless-rose

It's mid-day and the sun was high. Sango and Kirara were walking along in the middle of a forest. They soon came upon a stream. Its quiet roar gave away its existence.

"A stream…!" Sango lightened up. "We should rest and get a drink, Kirara."

The little fire demon responded with a purr and cuddle. They've been traveling for days with little rest, without their other friends.

"Well that settles it!" she laughed and petted her little companion.  
"What's this?" Miroku asked himself from the sound of rushing water. "A stream…"

He had been talking to himself lately since no one else was around. But who wouldn't start a conversation with themselves when they're alone? I would… Anyway… the stream would be a wonderful place to stop and rest from traveling for days with almost no rest.

"Oh… ? Who is this?"

A certain young woman and her cat demon were leaning over the water's edge, collecting the water in a plastic bottle that Kagome had given them. Seeing this sight was almost too irresistible for the lecherous monk and he just had to approach. Then he did what most of you would have guessed… and groped her. Sango knew and in one swift movement, grabbed the offender from behind her and threw him over her and into the water.

"Gyah!"

SPLASH!

"OOH—wait … Miroku…?"

"Greetings… Sango…" He rubbed his head and sat in the water. "What a nice day today is… isn't it?"  
"When you're dry… Hm—you deserved that…"  
"Right."

Then her face lit up.

"However… I AM glad to see you."  
"Me too." He said as he stood up. "It's been days since Naraku's attack and our separation."  
"Well it looks like we only have to look for Kagome, Inuyasha, and Shippo now."  
"But first. What we both probably came here for—rest!"  
"You should dry yourself up while we're at it too." Sango smiled at the wet monk.  
"I'll have to agree with you there…"

So they decided to rest by the stream's edge.

But 20 minutes into their break, they had a little visitor—a HUGE bear demon… A kind of demon Sango's used to seeing… The two jumped into a fighting stance, ready and wielding their weapons. But the bear wasn't alone, there was another, much smaller, figure. The figure was feminine, her shadow hiding her face since the sun was directly behind her. Then the bear approached the couple, its turning revealing the figure. She was young and beautiful in a sinister kind of way; she looked to be about 16 and she had red eyes (like Kagura's), long, deep black hair that was tied in the end, and an ominous aura to match. She smirked.

"Who are you! What do you want!" Miroku yelled to the girl.

No answer. She just laughed and held out her own a long spear. She jumped landed at the bear's side.

"Kill them…"

Suddenly the bear went berserk and charged at Sango and Miroku.

They easily disposed of it in a matter of a few short minutes. Four pieces of giant bear sitting on both sides of the stream. (Ew…) But the girl smiled at this and chuckled.

"I don't really see what's funny…!" Sango said seriously.  
"I don't either… But I have this feeling that we're going to find out… and I don't like this feeling."  
"Oh no… where's Kirara?" Sango said quietly, looking around for any signs of the little cat demon.  
"I'm not sure, but let's hope she's alright…" Miroku assured her.  
"Fools…"  
"I'm asking you again! Who are you and what do you want with us?"  
"Hm… fine… I might as well tell you if I'm going to kill you…"  
"Well?"  
"I'm Seiko… I was sent here to dispose of you two…"  
"Who sent you!"  
"My you ask a lot of questions, monk…!"  
"Answer me!"  
"Naraku."

Glares. Silence.

"Now, if you please… I must fulfill what my dear elder brother has sent me here to do."

Then she stepped closer to the bear's head, held out her yari once more, and the arrow at the end of the yari began to glow. Shortly, the bear's head began to glow and it rejoined itself with its other three parts. The bear was revived. Seiko began laughing again as she stepped back. Again, the bear went berserk and attacked the two. And again, it was killed within a minute or two. Seiko frowned.

"Now why did you go and do that? I was beginning to have some fun…"  
"How did you do that?" This time, Sango asked the question.  
"I'm a sorceress… No more no less…"  
"Great…" Sango said sarcastically. "Now I suppose you're going to bring that thing back to life?"  
"Hm."

So Seiko stuck to her word and revived the mutilated bear… again. It attacked… again and it was brought down… again. But this time, it took much longer to kill the bear… tiring Miroku and Sango. Seiko grinned and chuckled. The two only looked at each other, slight confusion on their faces. Why was she always laughing? Besides the fact that she now had the upper hand… there must be something else.

"How do we stop her from reviving the bear?"  
"Hmm… Oh! I think I have a solution! My special sutras! Hopefully THAT will prevent its soul from returning…!"  
"_Oh good, just what I wanted him to use… what stays dead can always come back alive… for me that is. Now it'll be more powerful as an undead demon… Perfect in my case… Perfect."_

With this new idea at hand, Miroku and Sango fought the bear once more and killed it. Then Miroku used one of his sutras and the bear was sure to never come back to life again. YAY!

"Oh good…" Seiko said honestly.  
"Wha--?" Miroku murmured.  
"That bear's not likely to come back to life at all…"

Then, with that remark, Seiko held up her yari and twirled it above her head. The yari began to spin rather quickly. Soon, there was a yellow glow in the twirling and darker clouds began to gather in the sky. She smirked and received glares form the two before her.

"You know… I should have told you that I am also a thunder sorceress." Seiko announced. "And with enough electricity, I should be able to jump-start this bear's heart back to life…"

"But there's no soul left for this one!"

"Yes… but that's my point! Who ever said it HAD to be _alive_? Undead things tend to last longer without souls—they don't know when to stop."

Thunder began to rumble and lightning began to strike. Seiko stopped her twirling and pointed the yari to the sky. At that instant, a huge lightning bolt struck the dead bear. Miroku and Sango had not much of a choice but to watch the battered, un-mutilated, and undead bear rise once more.

"Good luck…" Seiko grinned.

* * *

Let's see if they survive the attack of the frankenstein bear in the next chapter, okay? I hope you liked this and please review! Bye! 


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